insideKENT Magazine Issue 80 - November 2018 | Page 196

CHARITY
Kent Charity Profile:
Q&A WITH
BEN COOPER,
LEAD CHAPLAIN AT
HOSPICE CHARITY
ELLENOR
“SPIRITUALITY IS NOT ALL ABOUT
RELIGION. WE CAN GET MEANING
FROM ALL SORTS OF PLACES AND
THE CHAPLAINCY TEAM WORKS
WITH THIS MEANING IN WHATEVER
FORM IT TAKES. HOSPICE CARE IS
ALL ABOUT FACING LIFE AND DEATH
QUESTIONS HEAD ON, AND THE
CHAPLAINCY TEAM ARE AT THE
FRONTLINE OF THIS.”
Ben Cooper
with Adult Therapy Patient
ellenor is a charity funded by the generosity
of the local community offering the best care
and support to thousands of families facing
terminal illness in Kent and Bexley each year.
They are the only charity in Kent that provides
hospice care for people of all ages – babies,
children and adults – in their place of choice,
and Children’s Hospice at home.
Based at the hospice in Gravesend, we caught
up with Lead Chaplain Ben Cooper to find out
about the vital role chaplaincy plays within
hospice care.
Tell us about the role of a chaplain within a
hospice environment?
We provide compassion, kindness and
spiritual support for both the Adult and
Children’s services, as well as for visitors, staff
and volunteers facing services as well as for
visitors, staff and volunteers facing situations
which at times are difficult and stressful. These
can include a diagnosis of a life-limiting or
terminal illness, the death of a child or adapting
196
RUSS HARGREAVES, HEAD OF
WELLBEING, ELLENOR
to the role of becoming a carer for a seriously
ill family member or friend. These can have a
profound impact on an individual’s
psychological or emotional health
and wellbeing.
At ellenor, we have a team of three
compassionate volunteers who provide
spiritual, religious and pastoral care and we
work as part of the ‘Wellbeing’ Team. The
chaplaincy team is there to provide a listening
ear, as well as to help discuss the big questions
about life and death.
Christmas is usually a happy time; however,
for many it can be a sad time of year, when
individuals are either separated from
families and friends or face their Christmas
alone. Tell us how you support families
during the festive season?
The support that we provide will stay the same
throughout the year, but what changes is the
atmosphere of the season. We will continue
to be the shoulder to cry on, the listening ear,
the ones to walk with them on this life-
changing journey. There will be ongoing
prayer, holy communion if required or simply
talking through people’s fears and concerns.
Working in hospice care, how do you reach
different communities?
Meeting the needs of people in all their
diversity is an essential part of our work. We
are all very different and a patient’s spiritual
and cultural beliefs can have a large impact
on the type of care they wish to receive. We
are there for people of any religion or
if they have no faith and we act as a pillar of
support to patients and their families
through terminal illness and through
bereavement.